Not A bar Band

[bassbully]

Starting to feel my band is just not a bar band ...at all. We played a frat house type joint last weekend since the money was decent for an original band, near what most cover bands make in my area. We went over like a lead balloon We are a good original band and i know this. We are slowly building fans...one at a time it seams but building them. We gets props for a band who just are going on 1 year together playing out.

But i know we are more set for the music venue,festival,event type scene. This limits us thou in bookings and makes us seasonal too. We love playing festivals but i fear weather etc for cancellations and want to add a contract but am scared it could chase off promoters. What are some or any of you doing that play more to the festival type gigs and are less of a bar band. I need ideas. Any Help would be great.

[tZer]

One approach is to accept the beast. Create a set list for bars that includes a 75/25 (or so) mix of covers (75%) to originals (25%).

Knowing that you're more of a 'music venue' act, one way to build your 'music venue' going crowd is to hit the bars and win 'em over. Play LOTS of stuff they recognize that's similar to your original material to give them some perspective and a way to understand how to listen to you. Slide and original in here and there amidst all the familiar stuff and pretty soon the bar crowds will start to dig your gig.

Face it - many/most people going out on a Friday/Saturday night are looking to hang with friends, troll for hook-ups and get buzzed. If you're playing stuff they don't know then your mostly bothering them as they're trying to talk, troll and drink. But play some stuff they know and you become a part of their evening - not an intrusion.

Personally I feel that hitting the bars and entertaining a crowd is a great way to build a huge and loyal following. But that requires a little 'give' on the part of the band in the form of making the crowd feel confident you'll play stuff they can sing along with, dance to and party to. In other words, provide them their soundtrack. It there are a lot of good covers that reflect your influences in the set when you play an original, they'll 'get where you're coming from' and return the favor by paying more attention to your original stuff and coming to your festival/venue gigs.

Otherwise don't play familiar stuff, don't play bars and accept the slim and unpredictable pickins of the festival/venue circuit.

[bassbully]

Originally Posted by tZer

One approach is to accept the beast. Create a set list for bars that includes a 75/25 (or so) mix of covers (75%) to originals (25%).

Knowing that you're more of a 'music venue' act, one way to build your 'music venue' going crowd is to hit the bars and win 'em over. Play LOTS of stuff they recognize that's similar to your original material to give them some perspective and a way to understand how to listen to you. Slide and original in here and there amidst all the familiar stuff and pretty soon the bar crowds will start to dig your gig.

Face it - many/most people going out on a Friday/Saturday night are looking to hang with friends, troll for hook-ups and get buzzed. If you're playing stuff they don't know then your mostly bothering them as they're trying to talk, troll and drink. But play some stuff they know and you become a part of their evening - not an intrusion.

Personally I feel that hitting the bars and entertaining a crowd is a great way to build a huge and loyal following. But that requires a little 'give' on the part of the band in the form of making the crowd feel confident you'll play stuff they can sing along with, dance to and party to. In other words, provide them their soundtrack. It there are a lot of good covers that reflect your influences in the set when you play an original, they'll 'get where you're coming from' and return the favor by paying more attention to your original stuff and coming to your festival/venue gigs.

Otherwise don't play familiar stuff, don't play bars and accept the slim and unpredictable pickins of the festival/venue circuit.

Thank you very much for all the help and ideas. I should of said in my original post that this band wants to remain all original and we sprinkle in a couple of covers in each set done "our" way. We get props on our covers and the way we twist them. Most folks love them in the music venues etc. In bars....they could care less

I agree with what you say on the whole bar thing. We took this gig cuz the gal who booked it thought an original band would work...guess not. I can see that this idea will not go over and typing this today makes me understand i am answering my own questions. We have a problem in my area with a bad local music scene. There are few places to play and we got a chance to play a place such as we did last weekend that we just didnt fit. The band feels "Oh well we did our best" but since i booked the gig i take it personally. I am on a rant and rambling ...sorry ....needed to vent i guess LOL

[OhmMyGoodness]

^ That's what our band does. We try to play songs that get people in the mood while they're at the bar. It always goes over well. If you're doing a good job people will start requesting songs. If you pull one or two requested songs or general band requests then the people will love you for it. Drop in a few original tunes that go well with the covers you play and they will undoubtedly pay attention. Sometimes you don't want to play those covers, and it's not for everyone. But I would rather get into it, play the songs I gotta play to keep the people on their barstools. I need money to upkeep my equipment and get new goodies to play with. I don't mind doing the bar/cover gigs. I always have fun. Some people refuse to make that sacrafice. The most important thing is that people remember your band name and that you played what they wanted to hear.

[jakedimmick]

Are there no bars in your area that cater to original bands? In my city, there are loads of places to go play covers, but there are three or four bars that cater exclusively to original music. I'm not in the biggest city (about 200,000) so I've always just figured all cities were like this.

[pasta4lnch]

rare to find a place that gives you more than the door (or a poor cut of the door) for originals. I agree w/ above w/ adding covers. it's a means to an end. . .

fwiw my band does the orig/cover thing and in places where we play a lot and know the crowd we end up doing more originals in a night than covers. the venue doesn't care cuz everyone is happy and buying drinks . . . win/win!

other suggestions is to organize w/ other bands. if you got a few bands together and approached a venue w/ an "original" night or something on, say, a thursday they'd be psyched for the business on a down night and the bands can mooch off each others fans - win/win

I basically approach my career in the music biz w/ the "here's how I can make you money" attitude. It goes over a little better than "please listen to me"

[tZer]

Originally Posted by bassbully

Thank you very much for all the help and ideas. I should of said in my original post that this band wants to remain all original and we sprinkle in a couple of covers in each set done "our" way. We get props on our covers and the way we twist them. Most folks love them in the music venues etc. In bars....they could care less

I agree with what you say on the whole bar thing. We took this gig cuz the gal who booked it thought an original band would work...guess not. I can see that this idea will not go over and typing this today makes me understand i am answering my own questions. We have a problem in my area with a bad local music scene. There are few places to play and we got a chance to play a place such as we did last weekend that we just didnt fit. The band feels "Oh well we did our best" but since i booked the gig i take it personally. I am on a rant and rambling ...sorry ....needed to vent i guess LOL

This is a very common mindset for original bands. All I can say is that the 'bar scene' is not all that interested in original music - unless you've earned interest by working with the system instead of trying to convert it.

I'd recommend a longer view and look at wooing bar goers/clubbers by playing what they want as a means to an end - building a loyal fan base. Add your own flair to the covers for sure - I cannot stand hearing 'jukebox' reproductions - but definitely play stuff they know. If you play a lot of bars/clubs doing that you get a following. At first, when they don't know you, you're barely a blip on their radar. They know the bar has bands - the hope the band plays stuff they know - if the band doesn't, they either leave or pester you to play stuff they know. That doesn't build a crowd - that clears out bars and ensures you don't get bar gigs.

But be savvy - play stuff you know will go over well (your way) and drop in a token original here and there. GET PAID, build your crowd and draw them to your showcase shows at music venues and festivals and give them the full dose.

That's just the nature of bars, bar goers and bands. The bands are a peripheral component in the night and if they don't add value by engaging the crowd (playing stuff that let's them say, "Hey! I LOVE this song!" or "Oh YEAH! Let's hit the floor!") and instead play unfamiliar stuff, the only thing the band is doing is interfering with the crowds good time.

The smart money is on the money and the face time. The more clubs/bars you play, the more you get paid, the more people see you, the more popular you are and it's much more likely that those people will start to pay attention to your original material and become VERY loyal fan.

Counting on original only venues will tend to get you a lot of 'original music seekers' - but not regular folks. In the real world, original music seekers make up about 10% of the Friday/Saturday night scenes. The other 90% are just out for fun and don't care one iota about your original music - until you've earned they're ears by giving them lots of great nights in the clubs making the girlies dance and the dudes feel like they've got a chance.

[JDJen]

Around here (Nebraska) people don't want to see an all original band because they don't know the songs. Most bands are cover bands with originals, and do more covers than originals. Eventually, if a band stays together long enough they will drop 90% of their covers and do their music. I can think of 1 band in the area that does that. And the reason they can is because they have the following to do so which was built up from years of playing covers. First ya gotta get 'em in the door. Then hopefully when they come back....they bring friends.

[reedo35]

Originally Posted by tZer

One approach is to accept the beast. Create a set list for bars that includes a 75/25 (or so) mix of covers (75%) to originals (25%).
Slide and original in here and there amidst all the familiar stuff and pretty soon the bar crowds will start to dig your gig.

This is what my Band did, and after awhile people started requesting our original stuff.

[bassbully]

Originally Posted by pasta4lnch

rare to find a place that gives you more than the door (or a poor cut of the door) for originals. I agree w/ above w/ adding covers. it's a means to an end. . .

fwiw my band does the orig/cover thing and in places where we play a lot and know the crowd we end up doing more originals in a night than covers. the venue doesn't care cuz everyone is happy and buying drinks . . . win/win!

other suggestions is to organize w/ other bands. if you got a few bands together and approached a venue w/ an "original" night or something on, say, a thursday they'd be psyched for the business on a down night and the bands can mooch off each others fans - win/win

I basically approach my career in the music biz w/ the "here's how I can make you money" attitude. It goes over a little better than "please listen to me"

Awww... your right it is rare to get more than the door for all original bands in my neck of the woods so thats why we jumped at this gig. We are booked to play this place again if they will have us back...and i wonder if they will. We had some good props from folks there but not enough heads to hear us.

We have another decent paying gig coming up at a bar/grill type place that also has live music but normally has blues and covers...hope we do well there. Its funny when we play the music venue type gigs the owners never ask us about how many people can we bring and never seam to worry as much. Bars all ask this question and do pay more but not allot. To answer the other Tbers question No, there are few original venues in our area and this was part of the reason i posted. I was ranting on the fact that we are needing to book regular bars and we fit in them like a square peg in a round hole where as in festivals and event type shows we shine...go figure.

[bassbully]

To all great advice...i will talk to the band and put it like this. We start doing more covers than originals when we do bar gigs or we stay original and stay out of the bars...simple enough. I feel it will go to staying original and out of the bars and i am ok with that. We all get along very well and respect each other..no need for a hassle.

[Exploiter8]

Hi There!
I listened to your songs on MySpace, GREAT SOUND! My initial reaction was "Okay, Country Music." Was the Frat-House crowd maybe more Rock? Just wondering. I don't listen to Country these days, but one of the guys I jam with does. Your songs could be cover-songs as far as non-country fans are concerned...GOOD STUFF!

X8

[tZer]

Originally Posted by bassbully

...To answer the other Tbers question No, there are few original venues in our area and this was part of the reason i posted. I was ranting on the fact that we are needing to book regular bars and we fit in them like a square peg in a round hole where as in festivals and event type shows we shine...go figure.

You've summed it up. The crowds are different and expect different things. If you showed up at the festival and started whipping off covers, you'd get a lot of people going "What? We paid for a music festival and are getting served bar music?"

It's got nothing to do with the area or the people. Bars are for drinking and hooking up - festivals are for music. That's been the case forever and won't change.

Smart money is on the money, money. If you work the system like a savvy band, you can have your cake and eat it too. Most 'original' bands whine and complain that 'their music scene sucks become people don't go to bars to hear original music' - rarely do they accept that it's them who have the wrong idea about the scene, have a misguided concept of what playing covers is for and usually end up breaking up because their original band costs more for them to play in than they're making.

Be savvy - give the bar people bar music (with flair and an occasional original) and get your face and name in front of as many of them as you can and watch your next original gig explode. Plan to make this year the one that you dominate the bar scene, build a huge following and see what happens next year when you release a CD and are opening for a national act because you've gained a great rep as a great band that provides the crowd with a great show.

[bassbully]

Exploiter 8, Thanks Man! As I said we work hard and have gotten alot of good reviews and praise as an original band and that we truly are. I guess i wanted us to morf into a bar/cover/original band and thought we could make more money although we are not driven by it (money) We need to make some money to cover recording expenses etc. We are an Americana, folk rock band and yes some say we sound countryish although we rock out sometimes we footstomp others The club was more rock and we did do some rock type stuff a Tom Petty Cover,Mustang Sally,Suzy Q etc.

tzer...again thanks. You gave me allot to think about and talk to the guys with. If we continue down the path of original's only we will struggle more to find gigs and those that pay decent but we will be respected more. We can rest and record in the off time. BTW my statement over my local scene sucking has nothing to do with me being in an original band. I was in cover bands for the first 5 years i got back into music and the scene has went downhill year after year. Fewer bars booking allot closed, bad times all around for bands period.

[tZer]

Originally Posted by bassbully

...
tzer...again thanks. You gave me allot to think about and talk to the guys with. If we continue down the path of original's only we will struggle more to find gigs and those that pay decent but we will be respected more. We can rest and record in the off time. BTW my statement over my local scene sucking has nothing to do with me being in an original band. I was in cover bands for the first 5 years i got back into music and the scene has went downhill year after year. Fewer bars booking allot closed, bad times all around for bands period.

Any time - and as far as you saying your local scene sucked - I didn't even realize you said that! It's just a common complaint made by many original bands in most areas of the USA (and possibly the world). It tends to reflect what I believe is a mindset that feels bars and people who go to bars should embrace new, original music instead of cater to people who go out to get drunk and hook up.

As I see it, music is music is music. I don't care if I play a cover or an original - it's all just grooves, melodies and lyrics so I have no qualms whatsoever playing covers or originals.

My qualms come when I'm in a band that doesn't seem to understand the nature of bars, bar people, how original music factors into bar gigs, etc... And they blame their scene, the bands who do play covers - anyone but themselves for why their bar experiences are bad.

MOST of the time the reason an original band doesn't do well in bars is because they don't give the bars what they want (or their original style are pretty bad or their style is not 'bar/party/fun').

On the other hand, most of the reason a band who has original music does do well in bars is because they get it completely, create a show that's tailor made for the bar scene and exploit the fact that people are there for fun and provide them a show they know will be fun.

Once you've earned a reputation for bringing lots of pretty girls to lots of bars, you'll be able to play originals without clearing the room and the people there will be 100 times more likely to listen to your originals and become fans.

[Basshappi]

There is another thing that "conquering the bar scene" will do for your band and that is learning how to be entertainers.

If you are going to have a chance at being a popular band, no matter what type music you play, you need to keep in mind that when you perform for an audience first and foremost your job is to entertain people. And it is not what you think is entertaining that is important but what your audience thinks is.

You must develop the skill of constructing and delivering an interesting show and working an audience, and it is just as much a skill as learning to play your instrument.

If you cannot grab the audiences' attention right from the beginning of your set and keep their interest until the end then they will not stick around long enough to be impressed with your songs and instrumental prowess.

It always amazes me how many musicians dismiss this as being beneath them. But the simple fact is that once you step on a stage you are in Show Business and those that recognize and embrace both of those words are usually successful and those that don't are not.

Good luck out there.

[phatbass]

I think a band should just decide what "scene" they want to play in and refuse gigs at inappropriate venues.

I've had a gut-full of playing with guys who seemed to think it was illegal to turn down a gig so I'd be in a Blues Band playing in a commercial rock venue, or a Jazz trio doing a country bar. Visualise the scene from "The Blues Brothers" in Bob's Country Bunker; been there, done that too many times.

I think it's perfectly valid to say "this is what we play; we're not changing" and look for appropriate venues as long as you're prepared to accept the reduced gig ops.

As an example I do enough money-earners where I try to please the public, but with one Classic Rock/Improv trio I play with it's a real relief to not feel obliged to do requests unless they're in the spirit of what we do.

We DON'T get a lot of gigs, but the ones we do always welcome us back. We don't get nasty about it but we make it clear we're not a Top 40/Pop outfit. We KNOW we're not gonna be famous or materially successful playing dinosaur throwback stuff (it's a mix of stuff like Cream/Mountain/Faces/Hendrix/etc. with lotsa extended improvisation and "wanking" by everyone, with a few originals thrown in for good measure) but we accept it and in the venues we play the audience get into it.

[txbasschik]

Originally Posted by tZer

One approach is to accept the beast. Create a set list for bars that includes a 75/25 (or so) mix of covers (75%) to originals (25%).

Knowing that you're more of a 'music venue' act, one way to build your 'music venue' going crowd is to hit the bars and win 'em over. Play LOTS of stuff they recognize that's similar to your original material to give them some perspective and a way to understand how to listen to you. Slide and original in here and there amidst all the familiar stuff and pretty soon the bar crowds will start to dig your gig.

Face it - many/most people going out on a Friday/Saturday night are looking to hang with friends, troll for hook-ups and get buzzed. If you're playing stuff they don't know then your mostly bothering them as they're trying to talk, troll and drink. But play some stuff they know and you become a part of their evening - not an intrusion.

Personally I feel that hitting the bars and entertaining a crowd is a great way to build a huge and loyal following. But that requires a little 'give' on the part of the band in the form of making the crowd feel confident you'll play stuff they can sing along with, dance to and party to. In other words, provide them their soundtrack. It there are a lot of good covers that reflect your influences in the set when you play an original, they'll 'get where you're coming from' and return the favor by paying more attention to your original stuff and coming to your festival/venue gigs.

Otherwise don't play familiar stuff, don't play bars and accept the slim and unpredictable pickins of the festival/venue circuit.

This. It works.

Cherie